Saturday, May 23, 2009

Can A Dog Bowl Start A Fire?

"It's the MythBuster himself," said one co-worker, looking on as Keenan reconstructed the scene of the fire: He put a clear bowl of water on a metal stand, placing it about 13 ½ inches above a thin piece of cedar placed below it at an angle. The bowl suspected of causing the deck fire was 14 inches above the deck, Keenan said.

The conditions — 70 degrees and sunny, with light winds — were comparable to those on Sunday. The experiment was performed at about 1:45 p.m., an hour before the actual fire started. Keenan admitted he wasn't sure what kind of wood the deck was made of.

With the sun shining down on the bowl, the cedar began smoldering in about 15 seconds. Earlier, some newspaper caught fire just as easily.